


This is not the End

by MarshMellowDuck



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Jungle Fury, Power Rangers Ninja Storm, Power Rangers R.P.M.
Genre: AU, Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-03-25 22:04:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3826648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarshMellowDuck/pseuds/MarshMellowDuck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three different families trying to survive and escape their devastated country, whose stories intertwine and show the amazing ability of humans to find hope even in the blackest night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This is not the End

**Author's Note:**

> This is a AU where the rangers live in a country torn apart by civil war, and all those people who are not native to the country are being persecuted and isolated. I originally wrote it for school, but decided to post it here as well.

A sudden noise shook the house, the frame shuddering at the impact. In a hidden room under it, a small boy whimpered, causing his older brother to hug him closer, sitting up straighter. The older couldn’t be more than 11, the younger one only 8.

“Jarrod, I’m scared.”

“Don’t worry Casey, it’ll be okay, Dad will be back soon. Then we can leave.” Jarrod sincerely hoped his father would be able to get the visas. Without them, there was no way of leaving the country. He gazed around, searching for any movement. He didn’t say anything, but he was worried. Mom had never come back after the men took her away, and that had been more than two months ago.

Another shudder suddenly hit the house, and both boys jumped. Casey only held his brother closer, his eyes watering. Jarrod tried to stop shaking, he was the older one here, and Casey was depending on him.

His father would come soon, Jarrod knew it. His dad had made a promise, and he always kept his promises. Maybe he would bring Mom home too.

————————————————————————————————————————————

A young man punched a wall violently, not caring that blood was streaming from his knuckles. He fell to the ground, sobbing helplessly. It was all his fault. He never should have tried to go outside. He just wanted to see the sun again. Now Cam was gone, and he didn’t know what to do. He screamed, he should have stopped them. But they knew that Cam was a foreigner.

“Dustin.” Dustin looked up, eyes red and puffy at his best friend.

“They took him, Shane, I don’t know what to do.” Shane looked devastated as well, Cam had been a good friend of his as well. And now with him gone, all they had left was each other.

“Dustin, he wouldn’t have wanted you to beat yourself up about this. You made a mistake.” But it was, he should have taken Cam’s picture out of his wallet, and Dustin knew it. They never would have found Cam otherwise.

“It was my fault and you know it. I’m not going to leave him.”

“I never said that. But you sitting here isn’t helping anyone.” And for the first time in weeks Dustin felt a bit of hope growing in his chest.

————————————————————————————————————————————

Three people were carefully making their way along the street. The youngest, a petite girl was limping, leaning on one of the boys. At a sudden noise, all of them froze, the oldest moving quickly into a protective stance in front of the other two.

“Ziggy, protect Emma. Someone’s coming.” He hissed.

“What about you Dillon?” Ziggy snapped back quietly. But he began to move Emma out of the street quickly.

As if on que two people moved out of the shadows, but they weren’t soldiers. It was a relatively young man, holding onto a pale woman with wavy hair. At the sight of the three, he froze, putting his hands up in a peace offering.

“Who are you?” Dillon asked rather unkindly, but it was to be expected. They were in a civil war after all. There was no knowing who they could trust.

“RJ, and this is Fran, my wife.” When they stepped closer it was obvious that she had been in the camps, by the identification bracelet identical to the ones on Dillon, Ziggy and Emma’s wrists. With that, the three relaxed, and Ziggy and Emma walked up as well.

“You guys make it out of the camp too?” RJ questioned, then looked suspiciously at them, “Was it you who created the explosion of the gates?” He was looking at Dillon in particular, who allowed himself a small smile.

“It was not just an explosion, but a releasing of the built up energy that came from the heating of the molecular atoms in the metal.” Emma clarified. Ziggy simple looked amused, giving her a fond glance. RJ’s eyes went wide at the reply, but then he simply chuckled.

“Here, we have extras, and you seem to be trying to leave as well.” He passed them an envelope. Dillon opened it, before gasping. Inside were three train tickets and visas, with pictures of two young men and a young woman on them. Emma and Ziggy also froze in shock, looking at them disbelieving.

“You all look close enough, I think. I mean the government thinks we all look the same anyway, so it shouldn’t be much of a problem.” RJ smile seemed kind of strained but also genuine.

“What did you say your name was again?” Surprising it was Emma who asked the question.

“RJ, RJ Finn.” Dillon’s eyes softened, the young woman on the visa was named Lily Finn, and looked to similar to be anything but a sister.

————————————————————————————————————————————

Shane was honestly terrified of Dustin at the moment. His once carefree jokester nature was long gone, and it devastated Shane to see his best friend replaced by such a broken soul. They had been strained ever since Hunter and Blake disappeared, but at least Tori had been out the country anyway. But losing Cam had torn Dustin apart.

He could see Dustin shaking, and he sincerely hoped Cam was still alive, just for their sanity. They were on their way to the camp they though Cam was most likely to be in. It was the most recent camp that people were being taken too, and it had only been two days since Cam had been taken.

They had been so close to getting out. With visas and tickets from one of the only places still willing to give them to foreigners, they only had to make it to the station. Shane knew that Dustin had meant no harm. The nature lover had been going stir-crazy, stuck inside for so long. But with Cam, they couldn’t afford to let anyone know where they were staying.

A large explosion knocked both of them to the floor. Shane looked around for the source, and saw a small house. It had been hit several times by the look of it. But there wasn’t much more of it left, and so the flames were burning out already.

However something caught his eye, a small handle under a smoking rug. He knew that the soldiers had left already; they always did after clearing a town. He pulled Dustin along, heading for the hidden room he knew was there.

“What is it Shane, we have to go.” Dustin looked at him rather irritably.

“Hold on, I just want to check something.” He pulled open the door, hearing a barely audible whimper. Shane climbed down the ladder, and spotted two children huddled together, one quickly pushing the smaller behind his back.

“Dad?” A shaky voice asked. Shane sighed at the sight, too damn common these days.

“I’m sorry. I’m not your dad. What’s your name?”

“J Jarrod, and this is Casey.”

“Come on, we’re going to get your out of here.” The boys went quietly, heading up the ladder. Dustin helped them out, his eyes finally focusing on something besides the ground or sky. Shane suddenly wondered what he was thinking, bringing two kids along with him to storm a camp. But he couldn’t bring himself to leave the kids in their destroyed house. Man, this whole world sucked so much.

————————————————————————————————————————————

Cam couldn’t believe his luck. Someone had managed to blow up the front gates of the prison camp. He was now a couple miles from the camp, heading towards the only train station still open, hoping to find his friends. It was near a small town called Ocean Bluff. He wasn’t far now, he could see the edges of the town one field away.

The camp had been horrible. The soldiers were merciless in their treatment of those in the camps, repeatedly berating them verbally. But Cam had been lucky, only having a couple days in the walls, other’s had been there for weeks, even months. But he had Shane and Dustin to thank for that. He couldn’t help but remember Dustin’s face.

Dustin may not think so, but he had saved Cam from an even more horrible fate. Many had given up upon coming to the camp, but Dustin’s parting words as he fought off the guards had kept Cam from going mental.

An explosion went off in the distance, followed by a car engine starting. He turned and caught sight of an army jeep racing off straight towards him. With only seconds to spare he jumped off the side of the road down the hillside. It was much steeper than he had thought, and his chest smacked into a branch, as he struggled to grab hold of something, anything.

But weak from near starvation and with his back aching and red from the guards, he slipped and fell. A sharp pain blossomed in his head, and the last thing he saw was the clear blue sky and the birds, flying free, as if mocking him.

————————————————————————————————————————————

Ziggy was never so glad that he was easily distracted. By looking around at the houses, he had been able to catch a glimpse of smoke coming from Ocean Bluff.

“We have to get off the road, there’s been an explosion.” Everyone knew that the army was around when there was an explosion. They all moved quickly into the forest, almost running in slight panic. Emma had some difficulty, but Ziggy immediately moved to help her. They were lucky to be on this part of the road, where the road ran through the forest and not over the hill, or they would be falling down a steep slope right about now.

They only had to get to the train station, and then maybe they would finally be free. It seemed like so long ago that their world had gone to shit. So long ago when Ziggy could smile every day and not worry about every little thing killing him or taking someone else away from him.

It had only been four months since the rebels came and overthrew the government. Three since the killing began. Weeks since the world finally began to notice. Ziggy knew he was supposed to be happy and keep everyone hopeful. Be happy, because that was who he had always been. But he couldn’t help but hate the world for not helping their broken country and all the people left inside as it all burned.

But he was shaken from his thoughts as Emma shook him, glancing up at him worriedly, silently wondering if he was okay. Ziggy nodded to her, and kept moving through the forest, ignoring the frown he could see in her demeanor towards him. But as he met RJ’s eyes, he could see that the man had somehow seen through his happy facade. Ziggy had to wonder how RJ had done what no one except Dillon, Emma and surprisingly a pair of twins he had met in the camp could. He hoped he would find Blake and Hunter when they got to the nearby country. But he never knew, there were so many people he would never see again.

————————————————————————————————————————————

Casey gazed up at the man with messy hair. He looked sad, like Daddy used to whenever he looked at the picture of Mommy on the fireplace. Casey wanted to hug him, but he wasn’t sure what he would think. He liked him, though. Even though Shane was the one who had found him and Jarrod, Dustin reminded him more of Daddy.

There were so many trees everywhere. Casey wished that their roots were lower, his legs were hurting from all the walking, and not he was tripping. He bit his lip, not wanting to ask someone to carry him. He was big enough to walk, he could make it. But as Casey tripped again, and held back tears, clutching his ankle, he felt someone pick him up.

“These roots are pretty high huh? I used to trip on them all the time when I was younger. I was a pretty big klutz.” It was Dustin, who was looking at him sympathetically. Casey allowed a small smile. He knew that there was something about Dustin. He hugged Dustin, finally allowing tears to come out, as he grieved for all that his young mind couldn’t understand.

————————————————————————————————————————————

Fran couldn’t stop herself from looking at the horizon every couple minutes. She was finally out of that horrible place, and RJ was back with her again. But her babies, her boys were missing. She knew that RJ couldn’t have done anything else to help them. He had gone out to get visas, and without them there was no hope. But the soldiers had been so close to home.

Fran was so thankful to the young woman, who was limping determinedly along the grass. Emma, who with the help of Dillon and Ziggy had managed to free themselves as well as most of the camp with practically nothing at all, it was amazing. She gazed through the trees once more, just hoping a little.

Then, she saw something. It wasn’t her boys, but there was someone definitely there, lying on the ground. Fran literally ran over, hoping it wasn’t another soul lost. RJ was startled, but followed her anyway. It was a foreigner, who seemed to have jumped off the road. He was unconscious, and there was blood on the back of his head. But other than that, he seemed relatively unharmed, a miracle within itself.

Fran shook his shoulder, trying to wake him up. He stirred slightly, beginning to wake up. Footsteps in the woods behind them made the whole group turn around. Dillon and RJ began to slowly prepare to fight. If it was soldiers, there was no point in trying to hide. There were too many in their not so little group, and they were up against a steep slope.

But once again, it was not soldiers that came out. It was two young men, one holding the hand of a young boy, the other carrying one in his arms. Fran stood up, not believing her eyes. RJ also tensed, both of their eyes focused on the children.

“Casey? Jarrod!” Fran threw herself at them, clutching them tight as they held on to their mother, finally reunited after months apart. RJ was there a second after, both of them holding on as if the world would end if they let go. One of them men, who was a little shorter, with curly hair, suddenly froze as he caught sight of something behind them.

“Cam?”

————————————————————————————————————————————

Emma had always been somewhat grateful inside that she along with Dillon had no memories of their family. It had taken away the possible grief of one day finding out that they were dead, as so many others had. She had always been fine with a mind full of numbers and scientific equations.

But glancing at the two reunions going on in front of her, Emma couldn’t help but wish a little that she could recall if her family had loved her like that, if they would have searched for so long as the people in front of her did. If they had, they had obviously never found her. But she quickly forced the thoughts away, telling herself to not be jealous about the relationships between them all. Ziggy squeezed her hand then, and Emma hugged him, realizing that even though she had lost blood relatives, she still had Dillon and Ziggy. And she was so grateful for that.

Dustin, she learned his name was, was at the moment trying to calm down Cam, the man they had found on the ground. Cam had begun to panic when he had woken up, obviously a result of the camp on him. But Emma’s heart shattered a little for the man, who couldn’t be much more than 20, because she had seen his face when he woke up. Cam’s eyes were rather cloudy, his pupils unfocused as he grasped at Dustin.

Emma had seen blind people before, and she knew then that Cam had lost his sight because of the blow to his head. She limped over to Shane, the other man who had shown up, and whispered this to him, hoping that he would take it somewhat better than Dustin, and definitely more so than Cam. Shane stiffened a growing look of horror in his eyes.

“I can’t see Dustin. Oh god, Dustin why can’t I see?” Cam whispered to Dustin, whose face hardened, before determination filled his eyes.

“I don’t know, you hit your head pretty hard.”

“I can’t program, or read anything or-“Cam was panicking now, shrinking away from Dustin.

“It doesn’t matter to me Cam; I can read the code for you, you’ll be fine. Come on, we’re going to get out of here.” Dustin helped Cam to his feet, and began immediately guiding him along. Emma admired the strength of the relationship between them. And as the train station came into view, she hoped that Dustin got the chance to keep his promise.

————————————————————————————————————————————

RJ began to truly hope as they reached the train station. After months of horror and terror, they were going to make it. And he had most of his family back. His eyes burned as he thought of Lily, but he was glad he was able to help Dillon and his friends. Emma’s genius had helped so many people escape.

His heart pounded as everyone got out their visas and train tickets. One by one, the tickets were taken, and visas checked. RJ held his breath as Ziggy handed the visas over, hoping that the person wouldn’t’ check too closely. But they somehow all made it though. He let out a sigh of relief, and thanked the heavens. Then a gunshot went off, and it all went to chaos.

People were running for the train. RJ grabbed Jarrod’s hand, and picked Casey up, running for the train. But as they got closer, the soldiers began to pour into the station. Dustin and Shane quickly helped Cam on board, with RJ soon after with his kids. But as he turned to help Fran, he heard a scream, as Emma tripped, Dillon protecting her as Ziggy helped her up. His heart stopped as he watched a general walked up, a gun in his hand, and shot at the three of them, so close to getting on the train.

Fran, who had been close to them, suddenly moved, jumping in front of Emma, her eyes full of emotion. She gave one last glance at RJ, as she fell to the ground. RJ’s world froze, as he watched his wife of ten years die in front of him. But even in his heart he knew he could never had stopped her, not when she put her mind to it.

He ignored the growing ache in his heart and numbness in his mind, and quickly helped the three still alive onto the train. And only when he was sitting with his boys in his lap, with a stunned Dillon explaining what had occurred to the others, did he let himself go.

He held his sobbing children to his chest, and let himself weep for the one he had loved so much, gone forever like so many others. And he asked himself once again, why this happened to their country, and selfishly wished that it had happened somewhere else instead.

————————————————————————————————————————————

And so the nine of them sat together, everyone was holding each other as they grieved. The six others, three of them in slight shock at Fran’s actions, agreed silently that they would support each other in the face of the future ahead of them, and that this family which, like them all had lost so much would not be alone.

————————————————————————————————————————————


End file.
